DeKALB – NIU men’s basketball remains winless in Mid-American Conference play after suffering its fourth-consecutive loss Tuesday night against Miami University at the Convocation Center.
In their first game of the new semester, the Huskies (4-12, 0-4 MAC) battled the league’s top team within 6 points by the contest’s halfway mark. However, a second-half surge by the RedHawks (12-4, 4-0 MAC) handed NIU an 84-69 defeat at home court. The loss marks the Huskies’ 10th double-digit defeat of 2024-25, leaving them at the bottom of the MAC standings.
Head coach Rashon Burno attributed his team’s struggles to fatigue brought about by the injury bug, which forced many of NIU’s nine available players into longer stretches on the court.
“We ran out of gas,” Burno said. “We have multiple guys hurt; We have guys playing 40 minutes, high 30s, so I thought their depth wore us down in the second half.”
Sophomore guard Quentin Jones spearheaded the losing effort with a game-leading 21 points. The Chicago native was one of NIU’s three double-digit scorers, along with redshirt freshman forward Tsvet Sotirov (13) and senior guard James Dent Jr. (12).
Sotirov’s 13-point performance was a career-best for the University of Saint Louis transfer, who himself played through an injury, according to Burno.
“He’s a guy that wasn’t penciled in to be a focal point, but due to injuries, he stepped up,” Burno said of Sotirov. “He’s dealing with a turf toe, so he’s not really able to move the way he normally can. But he’s a consummate pro.”
While the Huskies successfully stifled the conference’s second-leading scorer in Miami redshirt sophomore wing Kam Craft – holding him to just 3 points – they struggled to keep up with the rest of Miami’s supporting cast. Five RedHawks finished in double digits, led by redshirt freshman wing Brant Byers’ 17 points off the bench.
NIU was especially vulnerable to the 3-pointer, as Miami went 10-of-22, or 45%, from beyond the arc. Fifteen of Byers’ 17 points came off triples as he sank five of his seven attempts from deep.
“No. 22 (Byers) kills from the 3-point line,” Sotirov said.
Miami struck first with a layup on its first possession before NIU responded with seven unanswered points to take an early lead. The RedHawks quickly battled back to regain the upper hand, leading as much as 7 points on two separate occasions. The teams entered the locker room at halftime with Miami leading 48-42.
NIU made a brief surge to make it a one-point game with 13:49 left to play. Miami snatched all momentum from there, scoring six consecutive points before eventually building a 16-point lead in the final stages.
As the Huskies prepare to complete their two-game homestand at 1 p.m. Saturday against Central Michigan University, Burno said he hopes to see graduate student guard Joe Munden Jr. and sophomore guard Nasir Muhammad return to action. In the meantime, he’ll take any of the healthy bodies he has available.
“At this juncture, I’d go with whoever shows up to practice,” Burno said.
